Broad Street Beat
  • Home
  • Flyers
  • Eagles
  • Sixers
  • City 6 Basketball
  • Phillies
  • Fantasy
  • Miscellaneous
  • Dunkin Tracker
  • About Us
  • South Beach Beat
  • Broad Street Worldwide
  • Restroom Review

A Glass Half-Full Look at the Eagles' Moves Thus Far

3/11/2015

9 Comments

 
Picture
To say that this offseason has been jarring for Eagles fans would be a gross understatement. Gone are almost all of the lineup mainstays, replaced by a group of players with sizable question marks. In the wake of Coach Chip Kelly's free agent 'Shock & Awe' campaign, I just wanted to see if I could offer a rationalization and a glass-half-full look at all of these transactions.

First, just for sake of my hypothetical, I'm assuming that everyone we've picked up so far is healthy. I don't think that's an insane assumption either. For a team that's embraced sports science and conditioning the way the Eagles have, I think this is probably something the Birds' medical staff took a long look at. So let's begin ...

The biggest need coming out of last season that was universally pointed at was defensive help. Specifically the secondary, which may have been one of the worst in my lifetime. In my opinion, you've already helped the defense SIGNIFICANTLY. Can you make the case that Byron Maxwell was overpaid? Maybe ... but you HAVE to believe that Walter Thurmond and Maxwell are a radical improvement over Williams and Fletcher.

In Kiko Alonso, you may have picked up a potential all-pro in an area of need with the potential that DeMeco Ryans will not return (though Kelly said otherwise today). You pulled this off for a running back that is expected to fall off a cliff soon and making a ton of money. Even going back to last year, there was a TON of debate as to whether or not Shady lost a step.

In my opinion, the defense, even before the draft, as it stands now, is much better.

On offense, yes ... losing Maclin definitely stings. No doubt about it. However, Eagles didn't exactly just let him walk out the door. They did offer him an awfully nice contract rumored to be about $10 million a year. The guy wanted more money and saw a chance to play for his home team.

Personally, I think Jordan Matthews can be an elite player! In the same way that DeSean Jackson's production was replaced by Maclin, I believe Maclin's production will be replaced by Matthews. If you wanted to point to anything as a problem, it was the drop off in production from Riley Cooper. It was clear the Eagles expected much more from Cooper than they ended up with. So, worst case, you might need a #2 or 3 receiver. A commodity that you can definitely find.

You lost McCoy, for a three-headed monster in Polk, Sproles, and Ryan Matthews. In a position that's been so marginalized the last few years that a running back wasn't even drafted in the first round, although you can't "replace" McCoy, I believe you can certainly be productive ENOUGH to succeed.

Lastly, the most controversial move of all ... Foles for Bradford. Now again, I'll point out I'm assuming (hoping?) health isn't an issue. ACL injuries really aren't the catastrophic injuries that they used to be. Wasn't Jeremy Maclin a guy with two ACL injuries? Didn't Adrian Peterson come back off of an ACL injury with a career defining year? As I said earlier, I believe this is a team that does its homework with a player's medical history. Having said that, I don't think it's crazy to assume Sam Bradford is healthy.

I believe too, as reports come out that Washington will not pass on Mariota, that the Eagles made peace with the fact that they're NOT getting the guy they ultimately wanted. The handshake with the Jets turned out to be worthless since Mariota wasn't going to drop to six. This should also cement that Kelly believed that Nick Foles couldn't be much more than, at best, maybe Alex Smith. A serviceable guy, but not someone that can elevate a team to a championship level.

I'm giving Bradford the benefit of the doubt here, and in the interest of full disclosure, I was always a fan of the guy going back to his time at Oklahoma. I think he has elite level tools: great field vision, terrific arm, makes quick decisions and is accurate. He was drafted onto a St. Louis team that was absolutely terrible and not surprisingly, he looked pretty bad as he was attacked relentlessly. In a better situation, I honestly believe he can thrive.

All is not lost, Eagles fans. Let's show a little patience and see how this all plays out. There's plenty of time until training camp. 

On that note, I'll leave everyone with something to watch for. If the Eagles redo Bradford's contract in some way, he'll be under center for the season opener.  If they sit tight on it, there may still be a another chapter to this ongoing drama ...

By: Chip Kelly's Balls
Follow me on Twitter: @ChipKellysBalls
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
9 Comments
Dan Aleksander link
3/11/2015 02:37:41 pm

Chip Kelly's Balls > Walter Cronkite

Reply
Brian Williams
3/11/2015 03:00:30 pm

I can confirm this report. I was there.

Reply
Bill O'Riley
3/11/2015 03:48:37 pm

I can verify Brian's confirmation...

Carey williams
3/11/2015 04:33:45 pm

Hey Brian where were u n what can u confirm?

nick foles
3/11/2015 04:08:16 pm

1rst I think this toilet paper material above is coming from a wanna b I don't know what but it is shit. To say you only got some guys because they were hurt well y wouldn't a guys prev team that's seen him 5 years not feel same way and couldn't believe that got anything let alone a starting qb. Just like chip Kelly his balls have many points to be debated

Reply
Carey williams
3/11/2015 04:28:47 pm

Hey nick ur mother is a 2 bit whore n who r u 2 mock a guys opinion u dick face. C now I gotta rip ur opinion n tell u that u prob can't read n have no idea til ur mom tells u what's going on w eagles. So zip ur lip n tel ma she still owes me 10

JennG
3/11/2015 03:27:34 pm

Well, thanks for that! Rational and cautiously optimistic - much more palatable than the malestrom of hysteria and general kvetching going on around the city this week. FFS everybody, calm down!

Reply
Carey Williams
3/11/2015 04:34:54 pm

Hey bill what can u confirm u stupid dick

Reply
Sage Rosenfels
3/13/2015 02:25:54 am

HELLO I AM SAGE ROSENFELS

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!

    -Jeff Daniels 
    (Dumb & Dumber)
    Tweets by @BroadStBeat

    Archives

    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Categories

    All
    Atlantic 10
    Atlantic 10
    Ben
    City 6
    City 6
    Dan
    Eagles
    Flyers
    Kyle
    Leo
    Matt
    Misc
    Mlb
    Mls
    Nba
    Ncaa
    Nfl
    Nhl
    Phillies
    Podcast
    Sixers
    Soul
    Steve
    Union

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.